Taller women are at greater risk of developing 10 different forms of cancer, new research has revealed.

The study published in The Lancet Oncology medical journal checked height against cancer rates for more than 1 million middle-aged women.

Between 1996 and 2001, some 97,000 developed some form of the disease and those who were taller were more likely to be at risk.

But Cancer Australia head Professor Ian Olver says tall people should not panic, saying having a healthy lifestyle is far more important when it comes to preventing cancer.

"The interest in this study is that although that finding has been suggested before, it has always been thought to be due to perhaps other factors, like smoking and other risk factors for cancer," he said.

"But this... took account of those factors and still found an association between height and 10 cancers."

The subjects of the study were not extraordinarily tall.

Led by epidemiologists from Oxford University, researchers examined women who were between five feet (1.5 metres) and five feet nine inches (1.75m) tall.

They found that for every 10 centimetre increase in height, the individual's chance of developing cancer rose overall by 16 per cent.

In particular, breast cancer risk rose by 17 per cent, ovarian cancer rose by the same, and womb cancer rose by 19 per cent.

Professor Olver says it unclear why the association exists.

"It could be the genetic make-up is linked to other genes that cause cancer, it could be just the greater body mass or it could be a hormonal affect associated with height," he said.

Professor Olver says instead of being alarmed, women should look at lifestyle factors to prevent cancer.

"I think we have got to put it into perspective that we already know that there are a number of genetic factors that can predict an increased risk of cancer," he said.

"The important message is that you live a lifestyle, make sure that the preventable risks are dealt with."

He says known carcinogens such as smoking are far more risky than being tall.

"I think they are more risky and you can do something about them," he said.

"So these days it is not smoking, making sure you have good diet and exercise so that you are not obese and regulate your alcohol intake and then the sun protection behaviours and that will alone prevent about a third of cancer deaths."

Professor Olver says although people in the West having been getting taller over the generations, obesity is still a more important factor in the battle to prevent cancer.